MARLBOROUGH, Mass. – Wheaton College (Mass.) softball player Peyton Blankenheim-Brown (Rio Linda, Calif.) was named the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Softball Pitcher of the Week for the week of March 9-15, it was announced by the NEWMAC.
The award marks the second straight week that a Lyon pitcher has earned the honor after junior Sofia De La Rosa (Middle Village, N.Y.) was tabbed last week, giving Wheaton multiple Pitcher of the Week accolades for the first time since 2015 when Emily Berardi '15 earned the award three times. It's the first time since 2014 that the Lyons have boasted two or more different pitchers with the award when Berardi, Allison Baker '14 and Noelle Christmas '15 were all chosen.
Blankenheim-Brown was brilliant in three starting appearances from the circle for Wheaton, allowing just one run over 20 innings pitched for a minuscule 0.35 earned run average, while holding opponents to a paltry .183 (13-71) hitting mark, including no extra base hits. The right-hander hurled a pair of shutouts, struck out 12 batters, and walked just two in three complete-game victories to go 3-0. Blankenheim-Brown began the week by surrendering just one run on five hits and no walks, while striking out four in an 8-1 win over Washington & Jefferson College on March 10. The Mira Loma High School graduate came back the next day to hurl a 1-0 gem over Pennsylvania State University Brandywine, scattering seven hits over eight full innings, while striking out six and walking no one in a shutout. Blankenheim-Brown capped the week with her second shutout in as many days, spinning a one-hitter over five innings of an 8-0 victory and fanned two batters to go with a pair of walks against Gordon College on March 12.
For the season, the Business & Management major leads the NEWMAC with five victories with a 5-0 record and tops the circuit with 34 innings pitched, while ranking fourth with a 0.62 earned run average to go with 22 strikeouts to place sixth among league leaders. Opponents have managed just a .203 (24-118) batting mark against her for the sixth-lowest mark in the conference. When hitters have made contact against her, it hasn't caused any damage with just one extra base hit – a double – yielded all season. Blankenheim-Brown is the only pitcher in the NEWMAC to rank among the top six in wins, innings pitched, earned run average, strikeouts and opponent batting average. The West Coast native ranks eighth in NCAA Division III with three shutouts, 22nd with five complete games, 23rd in wins and 45th in ERA. Her control has been impeccable with just four walks issued during the season to contribute to a 0.82 walks/hits per innings pitched mark that puts her 36th in the nation.
Blankenheim-Brown has been the ultimate dual threat for the Lyons, leading the conference with 13 hits from the plate, while ranking eighth with seven runs batted in and is tied for second in the NEWMAC with a triple. She ranks 13th in the league with a gaudy .520 (13-25) batting mark and is fifth among hitters with 10 or more at-bats, while owning a .760 slugging percentage to stand 10th among NEWMAC foes. The senior also boasts an impressive .571 on-base mark, which is the seventh-highest among conference batters with 10 or more plate appearances.
During her tenure in Norton, Blankenheim-Brown has appeared in 29 games from the circle, including 26 starts, while posting an 18-8 win-loss record to go with a 1.62 earned run average over 172 2/3 innings pitched. She has 107 strikeouts and has limited batters to just 23 walks, while holding them to a .245 (164-669) batting clip. In addition, Blankenheim-Brown has eight career shutouts in 18 complete games and ranks fourth in school history in ERA and sixth in shutouts.
Wheaton is currently 8-2 on the season and will be in action again on Tuesday, March 24 when it travels to Providence, R.I. to take on Rhode Island College for a 4:00 p.m. doubleheader.
